Posts Tagged ‘Intersouth Partners’
Thursday, May 5th, 2011
 CHARLESTON, SC – PeopleMatter, a talent management software provider for the service industry, has raised $7.2 million in a second round of funding led by Noro-Moseley Partners. Previous investors, C&B Capital, Intersouth Partners, and Harbert Ventures, participated.
“We’s done extensive market research on the talent mangement industry,” said Mike Elliott, Noro-Moseley Managing Partner, who joins the company’s board. “PeopleMatter’s unconventional platform integrating the consumer, employee and employer in targeted, service based vericals is poised for substantial growth.”
The company sells a comprehensive talent management solution delivered on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform. It includes tools to hire, schedule, learn, and egnage the hourly workforce for the hospitality, retail and food service industries.
The company says it plans to use the funding to expand its sales and marketing in North America and to fuel an active product pipeline. That sounds as if they’ll be doing some hiring. That’s one plus that doesn’t get mentioned often enough when companies up their funding: it generally also means more people are going to be landing jobs.
The company launched its product in September 2010. Customers include Flash Foods, Noodles and Co., Boloco and Pap Gino’s.
The company began in the incubator offices of Charlston’s Flagship in 2009.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
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Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: C&B Capital, Harbert Ventures, Intersouth Partners, Mike Elliott, Noro-Moseley, PeopleMatter, service industry talent management software
Posted in Carolinas, Georgia, IT, South Carolina, TechJobs | No Comments »
Monday, March 21st, 2011
 RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – Overture Networks has completed its merger with Hatteras Networks. Known as Overture Networks, the combined company also reported $43.95 million from a financing connected to the merger, according to a regulatory filing, but the money was not new funding.
The company issued this statement in regard to the previous reports regarding the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing:
Overture later issued a statement:
“On March 22, 2011, it was reported that “Overture Networks has closed on a fundraiser of nearly $44 million.” This is inaccurate. On March 18, 2011, a Form D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a legally obligated, routine filing followed the recent merger between Overture Networks and Hatteras Networks that was announced March 1, 2011. As the company previously stated, it did not raise any additional cash related to the merger of Overture and Hatteras. As a privately held organization, Overture Networks does not disclose or discuss financial information.”
The merger deal, announced March 1, closed last week. The company revealed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it raised $43.95 million from 18 investors March 9.
Overture previously raised $17.2 million in April for a total of $62 million from investors who include Morgenthaler Ventures, Intersouth Partners, TDF Fund, Tenaya Capital and QuestMark Partners.
Former Overture CEO Jeff Reedy will head the combined firm as CEO and former Hatteras CEO Kevin Sheehan is president.
The company sells an Ethernet services platform.
Tags: Ethernet services platform, financing, Hatteras Networks, Intersouth Partners, Jeff Reedy, Kevin Sheehan, merger, Morgenthaler Ventures, Overture Networks, QuestMark Partners, TDF Fund, Tenaya Capital, venture capital
Posted in Acquisitions, Carolinas, Internet/New Media, Money, North Carolina | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
 DURHAM, NC -Advanced Animal Diagnostics (AAD), a developer of technologies for the rapid diagnosis of farm animal diseases, has closed an $11 million Series B round of equity financing. This investment in AAD represents the largest single investment in research and development to diagnose mastitis, the costliest disease for dairy producers worldwide. The financing was led by Intersouth Partners and included Novartis Venture Funds as well as other private investors.
The company expects this financing to support hiring for key positions, production and manufacturing, and on-farm economic trials of its first product line. The firm is currently seeking cooperators for those on-farm trials.
AAD is a research and development company dedicated to bringing highly accurate, rapid animal diagnostic tests to the farm. The company’s first on-farm product will focus on improving milk production and quality by controlling mastitis, an infection of the milk-producing gland.
Future products will monitor disease states, reproductive, nutritional and overall health status of production animals.
“With this investment, AAD will be able to bring to market a new generation of diagnostics technologies that will revolutionize the way farmers approach animal health, allowing them to detect and diagnose diseases in their animals more quickly and efficiently than ever before,” said Joy Parr Drach, president and CEO of AAD. “We appreciate that our investors recognize the opportunity of investments in agriculture.”
“Food producers are under increasing pressure. The value in AAD’s strong platform of technologies can help them improve animal health and profitability,” said Jimmy Rosen, partner at Intersouth Partners. “We’re excited to support this company and its technology.”
Dr. Simon Wheeler, managing director at Novartis Venture Fund added, “Novartis Venture Fund is confident that with its new technology, AAD will bring significant benefits to the dairy industry and enhance food production worldwide. The investment meets the aim of our fund to provide innovative patient benefit and supports Novartis’s mission to save, prolong and improve animal lives.”
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Advanced Animal Diagnostics, farm animal disease diagnostics, financing, hiring, Intersouth Partners, jobs, Novartis, venture capital
Posted in Carolinas, Money, North Carolina | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011
 MORRISVILLE, NC- Viamet Pharmaceuticals Inc. has raised $25 million in equity financing, according to a regulatory filing. The company focuses on enzymes that contain a metal, typically zinc or iron. About ten percent of current drugs target these “metalloenzymes.” Viamet’s technology makes those drugs more effective and safer, the company has said.
The company, founded in 2005, raised a $4 million round in 2007 and an $18 million B round in 2009 from Novartis Option Fund and Lilly Ventures. Existing investors who participated included Durham-based Intersouth Partners and Hatteras Venture Partners, also of Durham.
The filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission disclosing the current raise lists Intersouth, Haatteras, and Novartis Option Fund in Cambridge, Mass.; Lurie Investment Fund in Chicago; and Indianapolis’ Lilly Ventures, a venture capital subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Co.
Other investors in the company include Headlands Ventures and Astellas Venture Management.
According to the company’s website, Viamet develops traditional small molecule compounds that exploit validated metalloenzyme targets in the fields of infectious disease and oncology. All of Viamet’s therapeutic programs target indications with blockbuster potential and where current therapies have significant clinical deficiencies that can be addressed by the company’s technology.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Biotech, Durham, financing, Hatteras Ventures, Intersouth Partners, Lilly Ventures, Morrisville, NC, Novartis Option Fund, Pharma, Viamet
Posted in Carolinas, North Carolina | No Comments »
Monday, February 7th, 2011
 BOCA RATON, FL - LOC-AID, a company that operates the world’s largest mobile location platform and allows mobile developers to locate their customers for enterprise authentication, fraud management, and hyper-local marketing, has raised $13 million in a Series C financing.
The round was led by private equity firm H.I.G. Ventures, venture firm Intersouth Partners, and the Florida Growth Fund, managed by Hamilton Lane.
LOC-AID achieved record results in 2010 and secured commercial connections with all of the largest North American wireless carriers. Led by President and CEO Rip Gerber, LOC-AID has built a proprietary location platform that allows mobile developers to enable any location-based service for any application on any wireless device.
This round of funding will expand LOC-AID’s industry-changing location technology and bolster its ability to connect enterprise developers to wireless customers for a wide range of location-based services including fraud prevention, proximity marketing, asset management, presence, check-in services, and more.
“We took the long-awaited promise of network-based location and made it available to the enterprise developer community,” said Rip Gerber, President and CEO of LOC-AID. “Last year our platform was adopted by the largest wireless carriers, including AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile. Today we are location-enabling leading corporations in financial services, media, ecommerce, web-based services, transportation, entertainment, healthcare, and government services. We’re excited to have the Florida Growth Fund join as an investor.”
“We believe LOC-AID has unlocked the value of location-based services for the enterprise by expanding the reach of location-based services to ALL mobile devices, not just smartphones or devices with GPS technology that require an application to be downloaded to allow for the device to be tracked,” said Gregory Baty, vicep resident of Hamilton Lane, who manages investments made by the Florida Growth Fund. “LOC-AID provides that stable and reliable bridge between applications and location data without which the location services eco-system will not grow.”
John Glushik, partner at Intersouth Partners, and LOC-AID board member, said, “Mobile Location Services is experiencing explosive growth, and LOC-AID is the clear leader for the mobile enterprise. This round of financing marks the largest investment made in a ‘Location-as-a-Service’ company and Intersouth is pleased to continue its support of this great company.”
Tags: financing, Florida Growth Fund, H.I.V. Ventures, Hamilton Lane, Intersouth Partners, John Glushik, LOC-AID, location platform, mobile, wireless
Posted in Carolinas, Florida, Internet/New Media, North Carolina, Telecommunications | 1 Comment »
Monday, January 31st, 2011
 ATLANTA – The Start-Up Council, a group of industry experts committed to supporting the next generation of emerging companies, has issued a call for entries for the Q1 2011 Start-Up Council Roundtable to be held on Wednesday, March 23.
Created in 2006, the Start-Up Council is a forum providing gratis counsel to entrepreneurs launching new businesses by providing guidance on public relations, social marketing, funding, legal, business development, outsourced manufacturing, marketing and branding.
Entries will be accepted until Friday, March 4. Applications can be found at bit.ly/hnl0uO and submitted via email to ccrabill@trevelinokeller.com or faxed to (404) 214-0729.
“Enthusiasm throughout the Atlanta start-up community is at a high point, being fueled by efforts such as the Southeast Venture Conference and Start Atlanta. With The Start-Up Council and our Q1 timing, we hope to continue to further momentum and move local efforts forward,” says Genna Keller, principal at Trevelino/Keller Communications Group, the founding member of the Start-Up Council.
Each quarter, the Start-Up Council offers consulting with each individual company, in a roundtable format, to discuss issues critical to a start-up’s business strategy and launch including brand identity, market strategy, venture capital, business development and public relations.
Should companies wish for in-depth counsel, each entity in the Start-Up Council can be engaged individually – each providing a well-defined offering with a set of associated fees. Over the past five years Start-Up Council has advised more than 40 local companies.
For our TechView Atlanta article on Startup Council see: Startup Council provides entrepreneurs early expert advice. and Five Questions for Atlanta’s Startup Council.
techviewatlanta.com/2009/10/startup-council-provides-entrepreneurs-early-expert-advice/
Start-Up Council members include Trevelino/Keller, AcuityCFO, Ask Remco, BChord, Gray Consulting, Flourishing Business, Frazier & Deeter, LaunchFN, Madison Marketing, Marsden & Associates, Moreland Group, Morris, Manning and Martin, New Clarity, Nvestor Relations, Object 9, Realistic Solutions, Start Atlanta, Startup Chicks and Vitale CFO. Affiliate supporters include ATDC, Content Factor, General Catalyst Partners, HIG Ventures, Imlay Investments Inc., Intersouth Partners, Kennesaw State University and Noro-Moseley Partners.
Tags: AcuityCFO, Ask Remco, Atlanta, BChord, Content Factor, Flourishing Business, Frazier & Deeter, General Catalyst Partners, Gray Consulting, HIG Ventures, Imlay Investments Inc., Intersouth Partners, LaunchFN, Madison Marketing, Manning and Martin, Marsden & Associates, Moreland Group, Morris, New Clarity, Nvestor Relations, Object 9, Realistic Solutions, Southeast Venture Conference, Start Atlanta, Startup Chicks and Vitale CFO. Affiliate supporters include ATDC, Startup Council seeks Roundtable entries, Trevelino/Keller
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 10th, 2010
 MORRISVILLE, NC – Medical device firm nContact Surgical has closed on $16 million in funding led by existing investor Harbert Venture Partners. New investor ZMV Associates also participated in the round. TechJournal South reported the company had raised $13.1 million of the round in October.
According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the round was originally targeted at $23 million.
The company raised a total of $42.4 million across four rounds of funding.
Investors in the company, which raised a $4.4 million mixed securities round in August and a $4.8 million equity round in 2009, include: Hippo Ventures, Raleigh, NC; Intersouth Partners, Durham, NC; Harbert Management Corp., Birmingham, AL; Village Ventures, Williamstown, MA; Tall Oaks Capital, Charlottesville,VA; Massey Burch Capital Corp., of Nashville, TN; and Finistere Ventures, San Francisco.
The Morrisville, NC-based company was founded in 2005 to develop and investigate medical devices for the minimally invasive treatment of heart arrhythmias.
Its Numeris Coagulation System with VisiTrax integrates suction, perfusion, and RF energy to create visible, non-conductive, bi-atrial, epicardial lesions on a beating heart. The tethered device is used in open chest concomitant procedures (see photo).
nContact has initiated clinical studies for the treatment of AF in both open and closed chest procedures. It is currently enrolling patients in a series of clinical trials to evaluate the use of its system for the treatment of atrial fibrillation.
Tags: AL, Birmingham, Charlottesville, Durham, Finistere Ventures, heart arrhythmias, Hippo Ventures, Intersouth Partners, Massey Burch Capital, Medical Device, Morrisville, Nashville, NC, nContact, San Francisco, Tall Oaks Capital, TN, VA
Posted in Carolinas, Money, North Carolina | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 27th, 2010
 MORRISVILLE, NC – nContact Surgical, formerly known as Ablatrics Inc., has rasied $13.15 million of a targeted $23.15 million equity raise, according to a regulatory filing. nContact makes medical devices for the endoscopic treatment of heart arrhythmias.
Investors in the company, which raised a $4.4 million mixed securities round in August and a $4.8 million equity round in 2009, include: Hippo Ventures, Raleigh, NC; Intersouth Partners, Durham, NC; Harbgert Management Corp., Birmingham, AL; Village Ventures, Williamstown, MA;’ Tall Oaks Capital, Charlottesville,VA; Massey Burch Capital Corp., of Nashville, TN; and Finistere Ventures, San Francisco.
It raised a total of $24 million in rounds previous to those cited. It disclosed the latest raise in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
It’s generally a good sign when a company attracts backing from both East and West Coast venture firms.VCs like medical device firms because the need for their products is frequently obvious and acute and they bring them to market much faster than pharmaceutical companies can get drugs approved.
The Morrisville, NC-based company was founded in 2005 to develop and investigate medical devices for the minimally invasive treatment of heart arrhythmias.
Its Numeris Coagulation System with VisiTrax integrates suction, perfusion, and RF energy to create visible, non-conductive, bi-atrial, epicardial lesions on a beating heart. The tethered device is used in open chest concomitant procedures (see photo).
nContact has initiated clinical studies for the treatment of AF in both open and closed chest procedures. It is currently enrolling patients in a series of clinical trials to evaluate the use of its system for the treatment of atrial fibrillation.
To contact TechJournal South Editor & Writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: AL, Birmingham, Charlottesville, Durham, Finistere Ventures, heart arrhythmias, Hippo Ventures, Intersouth Partners, Massey Burch Capital, Medical Device, Morrisville, Nashville, NC, nContact, San Francisco, Tall Oaks Capital, TN, VA
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010
 DURHAM, NC – Argos Therapeutics, has raised $4.85 million of a targeted $6 million mixed securities offering, according to a regulatory filing.
Argos investors Lumira Capital, Forbion Capital Partners, CDP Capital, Intersouth Partners, Aurora Capital, and GeneChem, Mizuho Capital, Morningside Group and Japan Asia Investment Co.
The company raised a $35.2 million C round led by TVM capital in 2008. Formerly Merix BioScience Inc., the company has raised approximately $80 million in backing since 1997. The company disclosed the current offering in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company is developing therapies that attempt to bring the immune system to bear on cancer and infections. It says the new approach offers real promise in the fight against many of the deadliest maladies.
Argos acquired its original dendritic cell technology from Duke University and Rockefeller University and has significantly improved it. It based on optimizing a patient’s own dendritic cells—the most potent stimulators of the immune system—to trigger a patient-specific immune response. They “program” the cells to recognize the patient’s specific cancer or virus.
The result is a specifically personalized immunotherapy.
Argos Therapeutics reported positive Phase II clinical trial results of its individualized HIV treatment at the AIDS Vaccine 2009 Conference.
The company said its AGS-004 had “unprecedented results” for its immunotherapy. The company plans additional Phase II testing to confirm the results, which tested for safety of the treatment and its impact on a patient’s viral load.
See TechJournal South’s 2009 profile of Argos for more information on its technology.
Tags: Argos Therapeutics, Aurora Funds, Biotech, Durham, financing, HIV, Intersouth Partners, NC, Pharma
Posted in Carolinas, Money, North Carolina | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
 DURHAM, NC – Durham-based Semprius has raised more than $900,000 of a $1 million debt offering, according to a regulatory filing.
The company received a $1.5 million strategic investment from X-FAB Semiconductor Foundries AG, the leading analog/mixed-signal semiconductor foundry, in January.
Other investors in the firm include Durham’s Intersouth Partners, Austin’s Arch Venture Partners, Chicago’s Illinois Ventures, CA-based Applied Ventures, and Tokyo-based Global Venture Partners.
Semprius develops novel technology for the manufacture of advanced semiconductor devices. This technology enables “point-of-use electronics,” greatly broadening the options available to designers of advanced electronic devices.
For many existing designs, the technology can enable a manufacturing process that is faster and far less expensive. It is ideal for multiple markets and applications, including solar modules, electronic displays and wireless devices.
We noticed that semiconductor sales have been healthy this year. The proliferation of devices, all needing chips, should bode well for the industry and any tech fitting into that is likely to do well if it offers advantages.
The company disclosed the debt raise in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
–Allan Maurer
Tags: Arch Capital, Durham, financing, Intersouth Partners, NC, semiconductors, Semprius, X-Fab
Posted in Carolinas, IT, Money, North Carolina | No Comments »
Thursday, September 9th, 2010
 Garheng Kong SILICON VALLEY, CA – Garheng Kong, formerly with Durham-based Intersouth Partners, has joined Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Sofinnova Partners.
Kong, who has a medical degree from Duke University, will lead investments in biopharma, his area of expertise.
A familiar face at venture and entrepreneurial related-events in the Southeast, Kong’s has family ties in California.
“I’m looking forward to joining the Sofinnova Ventures team,” Kong said. “I value their diverse experience within biopharmaceuticals and appreciate the fact that the partnership seeks to build a leading firm with an excellent portfolio of investments.”
We’ll miss Kong here. He was always willing to spend time helping a journalist understand the science behind a new biotechnology firm.
Sofinnova manages $1 billion in funds.
Richard Kent replaces Kong at Intersouth.
See our report about Kong leaving Intersouth.
Tags: Durham, Garheng Kong, Intersouth Partners, NC, Richard Kent, Silicon Valley, Sofinnova
Posted in Carolinas, North Carolina, People | No Comments »
Friday, September 3rd, 2010
 Garheng Kong DURHAM, NC – Garheng Kong of Durham-based venture capital firm Intersouth Partners, one of the best known VCs in the Southeast, is leaving the firm to join a California venture capital firm. Kong, who focused on biotechnology, has been a familiar face at Southeast venture capital events and biotechnology conferences for a decade.
Intersouth said Richard Kent, previously a venture partner with the firm, has been named a general partner.
Kong joined Intersouth part-time in 2000, while finishing his graduate degrees at Duke University. He joined the firm full-time in 2001. He leaves to join another venture capital firm in California.
“Garheng has been a key member of our team for the last decade. He joined us while he was still in graduate schoool and we’ve had the opportunity to watch his career develop over that period of time,” said Dennis Dougherty, general partner with Intersouth.
We’ve turned to Kong for insight into the biotechnology field many times over the last decade. He was always patient in walking us through the details of a new biotech firm’s approach.
Intersouth’s Communications Director Suzanne Cantando tells us the move back to California “Is a unique opportunity for him to return home where his family lives.” She adds that Kong will disclose the name of the firm he is joining at a later time.
Kent, a board certified internist in cardiology, joined Intersouth in 2008 after having served as the President and CEO of Serenex, an Intersouth-backed drug discovery company that was acquired by Pfizer in April 2008. He previously spent 18 years in the pharmaceutical industry, starting his post-medical career as a clinical researcher at Burroughs Wellcome and ultimately becoming the vice president of Medical Affairs and chief medical officer at GlaxoSmithKline.
Intersouth Partners is one of the most active and experienced early-stage venture funds in the country, having invested in almost 100 private companies over the last two decades. Founded in 1985, Intersouth Partners manages more than $780 million in seven venture capital limited partnerships, making it the largest venture capital fund in North Carolina and one of the largest in the Southeast.
To contact TechJournal South Editor & Writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: Biotech, Dennis Dougherty, Durham, Garheng Kong, Intersouth Partners, NC, Richard Kent, Suzanne Cantando
Posted in Carolinas, North Carolina, People | No Comments »
Monday, August 23rd, 2010
 DURHAM, NC – 6fusion, which has developed an algorithm that radically simplifies the metering, consumption and billing of compute resources, has raised $3 million in a financing led by Intersouth Partners in its first institutional round and is moving its headquarters to the Research Triangle.
The funding will be used to add to its senior executive team and expand research and development as the company continues to scale. “6fusion is growing at a fierce pace,” said John Cowan, co-founder and CEO of 6fusion.
6fusion has developed an algorithm that radically simplifies the metering, consumption and billing of compute resources, called the Workload Allocation Cube (WAC).
The WAC is the most granular and universal metric for metering and delivering Infrastructure-as-a-Service.
The company also has developed a platform called UC6 which provides a single pane-of-glass user interface for customers to dynamically provision cloud workloads internal or external to their organization.
Katrin Burt and Mitch Mumma of Intersouth will join the company’s board.
The company will be temporarily housed at Intersouth’s offices at the Amercan Tobacco Campus, Durham, until it finalizes its new headquarters location. It was previously located in Wilmington, DE.
6fusion considered every major market before deciding to relocate the company to Research Triangle Park. “The Research Triangle has a rich history of strong infrastructure development and a cadre of growing companies, which makes it an exciting place to locate our company,” said Cowan.
“As cloud computing continues to redefine IT delivery, we look forward to playing an important role in establishing the Research Triangle as a key location for the industry.”
Tags: 6fusion, American Tobacco Campus, Durham, financing, Intersouth Partners, IT, NC
Posted in Carolinas, IT, Money, North Carolina | No Comments »
Friday, August 6th, 2010
 FORT MYERS, FL – CallMiner Inc. has raised $1.96 million of an equity funding targeted at $4 million, according to a regulatory filing.
Investors in the company include Sigma Partners, Boston; Intersouth Partners, Durham, NC; Village Ventures, Williamstown, MA; and In-Q-Tel, the U.S. Intelligence venture arm based in Arlington, VA, and Inflextion Partners, Florida.
Founded in 2002, CallMiner sells enterprise speech analytics software. The company disclosed the raise in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Its clients include Continental Airline, Daimler Financial Services, and Comcast, among others.
The company raised an C round in an undisclosed amount in March, 2009, a $10 million B round in 2006 and a $2.8 million A round in 2004.
CallMiner presented at Tech Media’s 2010 Southeast Venture Conference.
For TechJournal South’s profile of the company in Feb. 2010 see:
CallMiner digs actionable gold from service calls
To contact TechJournal South Editor & Writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
Tags: CallMiner, financing, Flordia, Fort Myers, In-Q-Tel, Inflexion Partners, Intersouth Partners, SEVC, Sigma Partners, speech analytics, Village Ventures
Posted in Florida, IT, Money | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
 Artist's rendition of the American Underground DURHAM, NC – The North Carolina CED (formerly Council for Entrepreneurial Development), the start up accelerators LaunchBox Digital, and electronic game focused Joystick Labs are moving to a new space in October called the American Underground at the American Tobacco Campus (ATC) near the Durham Bulls Baseball stadium in Durham.
The new ATC space is geared toward startup companies and organizations such as CED, which is focused on helping entrepreneurs succeed.
“Innovation drives our economy and it’s what drove our decision to create The American Underground,” said Jim Goodmon, president and CEO of American Tobacco’s owner, Capitol Broadcasting Company. “We want to be the place where entrepreneurs thrive and ideas soar. Where we stand today, once the site of tobacco production, is now the epicenter of innovation.”
Designed to foster creativity and collaboration, the Underground will occupy the lower levels of American Tobacco’s historic Strickland and Crowe Buildings. Features being readied include: individual tenant suites and single offices of flexible sizes, a large classroom, multiple shared ‘conference cabanas’, a common break room and a vintage arcade.
The ATC includes numerous restaurants, a Disney-designed waterfall, historic Tobacco warehouse surroundings, and is home to WUNC-FM’s studios, Bronto Mail and Intersouth Partners, among other tenants.
It hosts numerous special events, which have included some of the CED’s.
Other firms are expected to move into the new space as well.
The CED is moving from its current space at the Research Triangle Park Alexandria Technology Center where it has been for the last four years. It will occupy 2,400 square feet of space.
Joystick Labs, which recently launched with $500,000 in funding, will use 2,000 square feet in the new space. Joystick plans to accelerate the development of new digital games.
LaunchBox Digital plans to seed fund startups in its program with about $25,000 and provide mentoring.
Previously on TechJournal South.
Game Development Accelerator Joystick Labs funded, seeks teams
Triangle Startup Factory, LaunchBox Digital Merge
Tags: American Tobacco Campus, American Underground, Bronto Mail, CED, Intersouth Partners, Joystick Labs, LaunchBox Digital
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, June 21st, 2010
 ANNAPOLIS, MD - Zenoss, a commercial open source software company delivering network, server and application monitoring solutions, has raised $4.83 million of a $5.2 million round, according to a regulatory filing. The company previously raised about $20 million.
Investors include many venture firms we know well, Grotech Ventures, Intersouth Partners, Boulder Ventures, Amplifier Venture Partners, Silicon Valley Bank and the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development’s Enterprise Investment fund.
Founded in 2005, the company’s products monitor more than one million network and server devices daily and have been used by more than 25,000 organizations in 180 countries. Zenoss Enterprise is a single model, commercial open source-based product that enables organizations to seamlessly manage physical, virtual and cloud based infrastructure.
Commercial customers include leading companies such as Rackspace, VMware, LinkedIn, Carlson, Motorola and Deutsche Bank.
In April, it won he 2010 Innovator award by the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council (CRTC). In 2009, Zenoss also won CompTIA’s Innovator of the Year in Enterprise Software.
Tags: Amplifer, Boulder Ventures, DBED, financing, Grotech, Intersouth Partners, IT management, Maryland, open source, SVB, Zenoss
Posted in IT, Maryland, Money, Potomac | No Comments »
Thursday, May 13th, 2010
 WASHINGTON, DC -Congressman Barney Frank, (D-MA) has told the venture and angel investing community that they are likely to get changes they want in the proposed financial reform bill.
Rep. Frank, quoted in PE Hub, said Congress will exempt venture capital from the proposed carried interest tax and would not tighten regulations on angel investing.
Also, Sen. Christopher Dodd, (D-CT) is expected introduce amendments to the bill that would change provisions now in the bill to make them more amenable to the angel capital, startup and technology communities. See TechJournal South’s previous story: Amendments to finanical reform bill friendlier to angel investors expected.
Venture Capitalists, including many well known names from the Southeast VC community, have asked Congress not to eliminate Capital gains status for carried interest for venture capital investments in a letter sent from the National Venture Capital Association last week and signed by 1,700 of its members.
Signers included Durham, NC-based Intersouth Partners’ Dennis Dougherty and Mitch Mumma; RTP-based Aurora Funds Jeff Clark and Scott Albert; Atlanta-based Noro-Moseley Partner’s Mike Elliott; and Raleigh-based Pappas Ventures’ Art Pappas.
More than ten associations, including NVCA, the Angel Capital Association and CompTIA, who also asked lawmakers to amend proposed changes to the way angel capital investments are made.
In their letter to Congress, the NVCA members warn:
“Capital gains tax status for carried interest has been a critical incentive for that engine as it rewards the long term, high risk investment that defines venture investment. But now a tax hike on carried interest could cut venture capital out of the equation at a time when we need those jobs most.
“If venture capital carried interest loses its capital gains status, many rising professionals and technologists will choose careers outside venture capital. Existing venture capitalists will take fewer risks on early stage companies and shorten their investment horizon to recalibrate the new risk / reward equation.
“If venture capital investment disappears, there is no other asset class which will fill this void as direct investment into unproven start-up businesses is too risky for traditional lenders, too long term for buyouts and hedge funds, and too expensive for angels.”
Rep. Frank said he expects the Senate to pass a financial reform bill by Memorial Day and for Congress to have a bill ready for the President to sign by July 4.
Tags: ACA, angel investing, Aurora Funds, CompTIA, DC, finanical reform bill, Intersouth Partners, Noro Moseley Partners, NVCA, Pappas Ventures, Rep. Barney Frank, Southeast VCs, VC
Posted in Legal, Potomac, Washington, DC | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
 By Allan Maurer
ATLANTA & RESEARCH TRIANGLE – The economic recovery is not jobless in venture-backed startups. Southern Capitol Ventures’ Jason Caplain tells us, “100 percent of our portfolio companies are hiring.”
In Atlanta, Noro-Moseley Partners portfolio companies list about 150 openings on its site.
Intersouth Partners, based in Durham, NC, says that 14 of 16 of its portfolio companies it surveyed are “hiring across the board.”
Caplain says many of Southern Capitol’s portfolio firms are staffing up in sales and marketing. Southern Capitol’s 11 portfolio companies include firms in Miami, RTP, Baltimore, Morrisville, Raleigh and Durham.
Noro-Moseley’s portfolio firms list jobs for network and systems engineers, security specialists, software engineers, a director of channel sales, a PR associate, and a project manager, among many others.
Intersouth tells us 14 of its companies plan to hire an average of 18 employees each this year with jobs open in both its tech and biotech companies.
Jobs across the board
Jobs are across the board – in sales, development, engineering, clinical, operations, marketing, says Intersouth spokesperson Suzanne Cantando.
We think a broader survey of the Southeast and in fact the nation would reveal that venture-backed startups and those bootstrapped, as well, are the real engine of job creation, not all these huge companies the government keeps pumping money into.
 Intersouth Partners Dennis Dougherty Intersouth’s Dennis Dougherty points out that ““High-growth startups aren’t using the money they’ve raised to acquire real estate or build new buildings – they’re using it to hire people. If you take the amount of venture capital raised each quarter and multiply it by 80 percent, that’s probably about the amount of money that will be going to paying for jobs.”
Noro-Moseley’s Mike Elliott says all of its portfolio companies have positions open. “If we were an investor during the downturn, they were stripped to minimal staffs,” he says, “So now they’re beginning to put people in both C level and middle management positions.”
Eliot says that while he feels “We’re definitely coming out of the recession, I don’t think we’re going to come roaring out. We have to remain cautious.”
He adds, however, “That we would like to show the folks in DC that it’s the young companies that really create the fuel for growth.”
Tags: Atlanta, Baltimore, Dennis Dougherty, Durham, economic recovery, Intersouth Partners, Jason Caplain, jobs, Mike Eliot, Morrisville, NC, Noro Moseley Partners, Raleigh, RTP, Southern Capitol Ventures, startup company jobs
Posted in Carolinas, Economic Development, Georgia, IT, Maryland, North Carolina, Potomac, TechJobs | 3 Comments »
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